Following the previous years’ successes, track and field entered the season with high expectations. This year’s team consists of more than 100 athletes, and aims to attend the State track meet.
“[Our goal for this season] is to work hard, improve with each meet, win district and be state bound,” Coach Dana Mathis said.
This season, the team, despite its size, lacked varsity experience. This affected the team in many ways, but most significantly, it caused a gap in leadership.
“The guys have really come together,” Head Coach George Beasley said. “The leadership has emerged from the juniors and seniors throughout the year.”
Track spends hours in practices and meets, beginning in February. The sport reaches its peak around April.
“We practice every day after school until about 4:30 p.m,” Mathis said. “The distance runners practice every morning, Monday through Saturday. I believe [track] takes a lot of dedication. Most track athletes will train year around, which takes a lot of time out of your schedule. Also, meet days are very long. Some meets [consist of] two to three days of events.”
Cinco has a reputation for success in track, which the team hopes to uphold through hard work and dedication.
“The ones who have success in track and field do not reach it by accident,” Head Coach George Beasley said. “It is their hard work, dedication and discipline that separate them from the rest of the competition.”
The coaches consider finding a spot for each student the most challenging part of coaching track and field, since they like to acknowledge each student’s dedication. Track and field has a total of eight meets this season.
“We are limited with entries, but we want to make sure every kid who has put in the work has a chance to compete at several meets,” Beasley said.
By integrating individual goals with team goals, the group hopes to create a stronger base. They hope that through this, they will finish well at the district meet on April 10 and 11.
“[Our goal is] a strong team finish at District,” Beasley said. “Each week we have individual goals that we want to achieve. The more success each athlete has, the better the team will be.”
Each athlete has their own challenges, and for many, improving is the ultimate goal.
“Beating my personal record would be the most challenging thing about track and field,” sophomore Christin Vogel said. “My goal for this season is to place in the top three at the district varsity meet.”
Track consists of many events, which requires some athletes to prepare to participate in more than one event per meet.
“I really like the outside atmosphere and the energy that I am surrounded by at a track meet,” Mathis said. “I really enjoy the athletes that I get to work with.”
